Senior Paediatric Audiologist

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust

Main area: Senior Paediatric Audiologist
Grade: NHS AfC: Band 7
Contract: Permanent
Hours: Full time – 37.5 hours per week
Job ref: 196-LIS8865
Employer: Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust
NHS Site: St Thomas’ Hospital, London
Salary: £54,320 – £60,981 p.a. inc HCA
Closing: 29/09/2024 23:59
Interview date: 10/10/2024

Please apply for this post by clicking “Apply Online Now.”
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Job overview

Due to an expansion in the service we are looking for several enthusiastic and well-motivated senior paediatric audiologists to join our large, friendly, multi-disciplinary paediatric audiology team.

This mainly clinical role will keep you busy with behavioural hearing assessment and rehabilitation for infants and children aged 6 months+, including in our complex needs Hummingbird clinic. The role will not initially involve ABR testing but will include service development and leadership and mentoring responsibilities. The role will offer the opportunity to grow and develop as a Senior Paediatric Audiologist as part of a team that strives to continually improve.

Main duties of the job

As a Senior Paediatric Audiologist your clinical responsibilities will include:

Behavioural hearing assessment clinics for children of all ages, including those with additional needs

New paediatric hearing aid fittings

Paediatric hearing aid reviews

Your leadership responsibilities will include:

Support and mentoring of junior staff members

Training and support of trainees and apprentices

Service development through service review, audit and research

Alongside our main site at St Thomas’ we run regular clinics at our satellite sites in Gracefield Gardens (Lambeth), Sunshine House (Southwark) and Kaleidoscope (Lewisham). The majority of the clinical team work compressed hours (08:00-18:00) across 4 days, and typically the post holder would be based at St Thomas’ 2-3 days a week and at a satellite clinic 1-2 days a week. Following the COVID19 pandemic we have also
embedded Remote Care into our clinical pathways offering team members the opportunity to occasionally work from home.

Working for our organisation

The Children & Young People’s Audiology Centre in St Thomas’ Hospital is recognised as a comprehensive non-consultant led audiological centre providing a high quality service for the children residing in South East London. We have developed an innovative specialist hearing assessment service for autistic and complex needs children known as Hummingbird Clinic and have involvement in a number of national and international research projects.

The service is a UKAS accredited medical diagnostic service No. 9980.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Professional/Clinical responsibilities

To work independently as part of a multi-disciplinary team, within professional boundaries. To be ultimately accountable to the Clinical Lead and Head of Service, and to seek guidance from peers or senior staff whenever necessary.

To carry out all audiological procedures according to national, professional and local protocols. To justify and document any contraindications or necessary deviation from protocol in the case notes and/or medical notes, seeking guidance on justification if required. To maintain empathy and rapport with the patient during testing to maximise the quality of test results and minimise patient anxiety including identifying the relevant concerns of the patient, any contraindications to procedures, and explaining and carrying out procedures.

To undertake clinical assessments of hearing function in children of all ages and for those with complex needs, using a wide range of behavioural and electrophysiological test procedures in line with departmental practice and protocols, operating a comprehensive range of electromedical equipment and analysing and interpreting complex clinical data.

To undertake the selection, fitting and evaluation of personal hearing aids and other devices for hearing rehabilitation for children of all ages beyond the neonatal stage, and those with complex needs, in accordance with departmental practice and protocols, using recognised fitting protocols and exercising expert judgement to determine appropriate hearing aid settings for individual patients.

To supervise and mentor more junior or temporary clinical audiological staff in carrying out clinical audiological assessments and hearing aid fittings and evaluations.

To work closely with educational staff and parents to ensure that children’s hearing aid systems are used to achieve the best outcomes

To refer to and work with other agencies in providing a co-ordinated programme of rehabilitation, support and advice for hearing-impaired children and their families, taking into account their needs and preferred care options.

To provide demonstrations, advice and counselling to the parents and families of hearing-impaired children and, where appropriate, the children themselves.

To prepare comprehensive and accurate reports for relevant professionals, educational services and parents, on the assessment, management and special needs of children seen by him or her.

To approve and authorise hearing aid selections by more junior or temporary clinical staff.

To maintain complete and accurate paper and electronic records about children seen by him or her on local and national databases.

Management and Leadership

To take lead responsibility, under the overall direction of more senior staff, for one or more clinical, administrative, technical support or liaison functions of the Service, in agreement with the Head of the Service.

To assist in the maintenance of the facilities and equipment of the Service, in line with national and local protocols and practice.

To collect and analyse data for clinical audit, reports and service development proposals as required.

To attend and actively contribute to planning and administrative meetings, both internal and external to the Trust, as required by the Head of Service.

To undertake such duties as may be required from time to time as are consistent with the responsibilities of the grade and the needs of the service

Clinical development, teaching and research

To provide teaching on audiological issues, to medical and non-medical staff, and others, as agreed with the Head of Service.

To provide immediate clinical supervision of BSc, MSc and other students on clinical placements within the Service.

To draft protocols for aspects of service provision, under the direction of the Clinical Lead

To participate in research and service development projects, as agreed with the Clinical Lead and Head of Service.

Education and Professional development

To fulfil the requirements of professional registration and the Continuing Professional Development programme of the relevant professional body.

To maintain current awareness of audiological issues, and competence in relevant aspects of audiology, through the reading of audiological journals and attendance at meetings, conferences and courses, as agreed with the Head of Service.

To attend mandatory training courses, participate in the Trust appraisal scheme and seek to further own professional and personal development

Person specification

Skills

Essential criteria

Knowledge of the causes and appropriate management of hearing impairment in children

Knowledge of the scientific bases of clinical and electrophysiological procedures relevant to paediatric audiology

Understanding of current approaches to hearing aid selection in children

Ability to work co-operatively within a team

Knowledge of the current NHS structure and developments

Experience

Essential criteria

Substantial experience in clinical audiology with majority to have been paediatric audiology

Skills to perform Clinical Audit/Service review

Desirable criteria

Experience of teaching other professional staff and/or lay people

Experience of clinical research and dissemination of findings through articles, publications and presentations

Qualification

Essential criteria

BSc in Audiology or equivalent

Evidence of CPD

Desirable criteria

Formal training in counselling in relation to childhood disability

Registered/in the process of registration with HPC /RCCP

MSc in Audiology or equivalent

Guy’s and St Thomas’ celebrates, respects and values the diversity of its staff and patients. We review our policies, procedures and practices to ensure that all employees, patients and carers are treated equitable according to their needs. We are actively committed to ensuring that no one who applies for a job, works or study’s at the Trust, or accesses our services is discriminated against on the grounds of race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, religion or belief, age, gender identity , gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity/paternity, or marital/civil partnership.

Applications are welcomed from applicants with a disability. We can make reasonable adjustments and offer support and advice in a variety of ways throughout the application process. Equality of opportunity is our policy.

As an organisation we are committed to developing our services in ways that best suit the needs of our patients. This means that some staff groups will increasingly be asked to work a more flexible shift pattern so that we can offer services in the evenings or at weekends.

Flexible working

We are committed to supporting all employees to achieve a healthy work life balance and to work in a way that is best for them and our patients. We will consider all requests to work flexibly, taking in to account the individual’s personal circumstances as well the needs of the service. We encourage all prospective applicants to discuss their individual circumstances with the recruiting manager as part of the on-boarding process.

Your e-mail address is important to us – We communicate to all job applicants via the e-mail address which has been provided on the application form. Please ensure that you check your e-mail on a regular basis.

Please apply for this post by clicking “Apply Online Now.”

Guy’s and St Thomas’ is among the UK’s busiest and most successful NHS foundation trusts. We provide a full range of hospital and community services for people in south London and as well as specialist care for patients from further afield including cancer, renal, orthopaedic, respiratory and cardiovascular services.

Guy’s is home to the largest dental school in Europe and a £160 million Cancer Centre opened in 2016. As part of our commitment to provide care closer to home, in 2017 we also opened a cancer centre and a kidney treatment centre at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup. St Thomas’ has one of the largest critical care units in the UK and one of the busiest emergency departments in London. It is also home to Evelina London Children’s Hospital.

Evelina London cares for local children in Lambeth and Southwark and provides specialist services across south east England including cardiac, renal and critical care services. We lead a number of specialist service networks aiming to ensure children are treated locally where possible, but have access to specialist expertise when they need it. Our community services include health visiting, school nursing and support for families of children with long-term conditions.

Our adult community services teams deliver care at the heart of the local communities we serve, working in partnership with GPs, local authorities and other healthcare and voluntary sector organisations. Working with our partners in Lambeth and Southwark, we are focusing on new ways of working to improve care for local patients.

In February 2021 the Royal Brompton and Harefield joined Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, bringing together world-leading expertise in the care and research of heart and lung disease. Our merger provides a once in a generation opportunity to build a lasting, world-renowned heart and lung centre, providing the highest quality care for patients and conducting world-leading research.

We have a reputation for clinical excellence and high quality teaching and research. We are part of King’s Health Partners, one of eight accredited UK academic health sciences centres. In partnership with King’s College London we have dedicated clinical research facilities including an MHRA accredited Phase I clinical trials unit.

Patients are at the heart of everything we do and we pride ourselves on ensuring the best possible patient experience as well as safe, high quality care. We are proud to have one of the lowest mortality rates in the NHS. Following a comprehensive Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in 2019 we maintained our overall rating of ‘good’. Our adult community services achieved a rating of ‘outstanding’.

The commitment of our 23,500 staff is key to our success. We are one of the largest local employers and we aim to develop and support all our staff so they are able to deliver high quality, safe and efficient care. The 2019 NHS staff survey results show that we have one of the most engaged and motivated workforces in the NHS. We know this has a positive impact on the care provided to our patients.

We have one of the most ambitious capital investment programmes anywhere in the NHS.

Apply for this role

Job overview

Main duties of the job

Working for our organisation

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Person specification

Skills

Essential criteria

Experience

Essential criteria

Desirable criteria

Qualification

Essential criteria

Desirable criteria